Process of and apparatus for soil treatment



H. KNIGHT.

PROCESS 0F AND APPARATUS FOR SOIL TREATMENT.

APPLlcATloN FILED lune as, 1919.

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H. KNIGHT.

PROCESS 0F AND APPARATUS FOR SOTL TREATMENT.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE TB, |919. 1,359,177. Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

H. KNIGHT.

PROCESS 0F AND APPARATUS FOR SOIL TREATMENT.

1,359,177. APPLICATION FILED )URE T8. 1919. 16

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT KNIGHT, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

PROCESS 0E AND APPARATUS FOR SOIL TREATMENT.

Application filed. June 18,

T 0 all Iwhom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT KNIGHT, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residino in the borough of Manhattan, city ot New DYork, countyand State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements inProcesses of and Apparatus for Soil- Vllreatn'icnt, oi which thefollowing is a speciication.

This invention relates broadly to a new process and apparatus for soiltreatment, and specifically to the art of agriculture, having referencegenerally to the art ot employing certain novel instrinnentalitics forincreasing the fertility of the soil and the consequent growth ofvegetation; the invention can be utilized not only in the art andpractice of agriculture however but can be employed in the ditching anddrainage oi land and for military purposes as will be explained.

It is a well known fact that it is most desirable, in order to producean increment above the normal yield of any particular soil, to penetratewith the plow, or other implement of tillage, to a depth commensuratewith the natural requisition of the root arca; if it falls short ofthis, if in fact the implement fails to loosen and disturb the soilsutliciently to properly receive, and retain, the rain iall so as toconserve the moisture according to the necessities of the particularvegetation, the agencies employed are inadequate and the best resultspossible are therefore not achieved.

To the above ends, my present invention consists broadly speaking, in anovel process of employing gas expanding compounds, for tillagepurposes, such as plowing the soil, or subsoil, cultivating andharrowing, distributing fertilizing compounds or material, placing orplanting seed, providing for greater aerationi of the soil, storing andrendering moisture more available, assisting and accelerating theoperation ot' the nitrii'ying microbe and otherwise beneiiting plantgrowth, as will be explained.

In reducing this invention to commercial use variously moditiedinstrumentalities may be employed according to the particular problem,or problems, which diiiercnt conditions and requirements present as wellas the phase of activity to which my process may be directed: the valueand potency ot my present invention residing largely in the Speccationof Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

1919. serial No. 305,173.

regularity of the deposition of the packages containing the gasexpanding compounds.

In order to explain my invention more fully I will proceed to describeit in conncction with the accompanying drawings; by means of thesedrawings I illustrate one formof apparatus for carrying my inventioninto practical effect; the implements and instrumentalities herein shownhowever Vmay be widely varied without departing from the scope andspirit of my invention; in fact any suitable instrument, or implements,may be employed in the utilization of my process.

In these drawings- Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section on theline 1*-1 Fig. 7; in this view I show a body of soil in the process ofcultivation, with the implement for carrying my invention into eii'ectin operation; the process hereinafter claimed, the orderly procedure andperiodicity are illustrated in this ligure.

Fig. 2 is a detail view.

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view to a larger scale of the highexplosive package which I employ herein.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line lV IV Fig. 1.

i Fig. 5 shows the soil after the completion of my recess of operationwith the seed in position.

Fig. 6 is a transverse section on the line VI-VI F'ig.- 1.

Fig. 7 is a transverse section on the line `VIL-VII Fig. 1.

In these drawings 10 represents a frame, preferably of steel andconsisting of longitudinal and transverse beams attached each to theother in any suitable manner and forming a compact structure rectangularin shape; a seat for the operator is provided at i1 and said seat issupported on the longitudinal frame piece 1() at12 by means of thespring support 13.

It is my intention in carrying into practical eil'ect the implementherein shown to provide such various facilities so that the saidimplement can be governed and directed by a single operator; this factormakes .for economy and is therefore important.

The implement is partially supported by gangs of disk plows 14 at theforward end and by wheels 15 at the rear; the latter are here shown twoin number, see Figs. 1 and 4 and the former are shown in two sets organgs; in addition to partially supporting the implement the disk plows14 and the rear Wheels 15 are means for guiding the implement to theright or left.

The disk plows are supported on central shafts 16 turning in thedownwardly enn tending arms 17 oi the frames 1S. The frames 18 haveCentrally located trunnions 19 with pintles 20 of diminished sizeextending upwardly through thimbles 21, see dotted lines Fig. 1, thepintles being provided with retaining caps 22 confining all said partssnugly in position and permitting the frames 18 Which carry the diskplovcs 1 i to suing around.y to swivel in iaet with the pintles 2() asthe Centers; the thimliles il are secured to the frame pieees 10 in anysuitable manner.

Arms 23 extend laterally from the trunnions 19 and are connected bytransverse bar Q4 by pins 25 affording a turning movement. This bar 24is connected by pin 26 to bar 2T which latter is swiveled to an arm 28of a bell crank lever by means of pin 29; this bell crank lever has aCentral pin 36 Working' in thin'ihle 3l the latter being severed tubracket 32 hung from the main frame 10; the other arm 33 of the bellcrank lever is conne( ivd by a pin 34 to the link 3T which latterextends upwardly and rearwardly and is pivotally secured at 36 to atraveling nut 37; extending through the latter is the sereuT 38 which ison the forward end ot rod or shaft 39. This latter has at its rear endthe operating handle or Wheel 4() eceessible to the operator seated at11. The rod or shaft 39 is provided with a sieeve 41 which latter issecured to a ring 42 mounted upon and supported by an arm 43 attached tothe main frame of the machine.

The traveling nut 37 is secured at points` 36 to hell-crank levers 44turning on pin 45.

Extending rearwardly from the rear member of one of the bell-cranklevers 44 is a bar 46 svviveled to horizontally swinging bell-cranklever 47 the latter beine secured to and turning in the frame oithemachine by means of pivot pin 43 the other arm of the bell crank leveris pi'votaly at taehed to the floating bar 49 which latter at itsfurther end is pivotally secured at 50 to the connecting link bar 51which extends between and are pivotally connected to the front ends ofthe forwardly extending arme 512; these latter are secured to the upperends of pintles 53; these pintles are the upper terminals oi the yokes54 which latter extend down and on both sides of each of the rear Wheels15 being connected thereto by pins 55; the yoke pieces 54 have shoulders56 upon which seat the thimbles 57 ot the main frame 10.

It will be seen that as the bar 46 is pushed hack thcbell crank lever 47will turn on the point 4S and the said bell crank lever will assume theposition shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4. This will cause the connectinglink bar 51 to move to the left and through the medium of theintermediary parts to throw tlnvfllerls to the dotted position shown insame ligure; these are all conventional constructions and may be readilyunderstood without extended description.

The guiding and steering elements at the rear oi the implement willoperate in consonaney with the Corresponding elements at the forwardend.

I will proceed now to describe those parts 0i the implement especiallydesigned for its propulsion, the mechanism employed to introduce theexpiosive poel-tage Well as the parts which act as soil distributors,seed planters and eoverers; these are all cooperatlng instrumentalitiesand constitute when assembled and properly Working an organizedimplement iitted to discharge a large number of functions in elieetualsequence.

At 58 I show tvvo wheels mounted eentrally on the axle 50. At 60 aremotors mounted upon bed plate 61 secured to the main Jframe 10. Thesemotors may be of any suitable construction but in the present instanceare ordinary gasolene engines. The engine shaft is shown at 62. flyWheel at 63; at G4 is a sprocket Wheel operating a sprocket chain 65hereinafter referred to.

At 66 is a gear Wheel meshing with a similar Wheel 67 mounted upon andturning with shaft 68; this latter is provided at each end with gearWheels 69 which interinesh with the inside gears 70 of the Wheels 5S; bythe operation of the aforesaid parts rotation is given to the saidWheels 58; this rotation is in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig.1.

The wheels 5S constitute the traction memlwrs of my improved implement;with this end in view I provide on their bearing faces eert-ain memberswhich penetrate the soil; ot' these I show at 71 soil penetrating orplow members; at the place they enter the soil they are pointed.yprovided in fact with :i cutting edge, and toward the rear they widenout: they thus operate like plovvs Well as increasing the traction oi"the Wheel.

its' I employ the plow-tractor members 7l they serve more particularlyto open the soil locally and :at the places Where the seed to bedeposited; they also pave the Way for what I will term herein thecannon; that is the implements which I employ for receiving` carryingand discharging the eX- plosive packages into the soil.

These cannon are shown in seetion in Fig. l they consist of centrallydisposed members 72 Vwith a middle bore 73 in Which operates a plunger74: this plunger is swiveled at its inner end to the block 75 travelingin spiral groove 76 of the circular frame 77 secured lll 4is usuallyemployed in other movement by being place and manner from rotation orattached in any suitable to the main frame 10.

The groove 76 which controls the movements of the plunger 74 is asstated irregular or spiral in shape; in Fig. 1 most of the blocks 75 hasreached the edge or corner 78 of the said spiral groove and a slightagainst the button plunger 74.

When the block 75 drops ol" the corner 78 of the groove 76, the spring79 thrusts the plunger 74 outwardly and it quickly descends and strikesthe cartridge 82 exploding it; by this'explosion I increase the area ofsoil disturbance at those localities Where purpose depositing the seed.

It will be seen from the foregoing that I have described detailed meansfor periodically functioning the cartridge which means are fully shownin the drawings presenting an operative proposition.

To illustrate, and referring to Fig. 1 again, I show the soil inlongitudinal section; that part of the soil above the line l., refer toas the top soil, that which l tillage; the portion ot' the soil betweenthe lines A-A and B-B, I refer to as hard pan, a condition occuring atmany places in this country and constituting a continuous menace to thefarmer as placing an almost impassable barrier to the downward growth ofthe plant roots; it is one of the objects of my present invention topenetrate this'hard pan at such points and at such places Where I intendsubsequently placing the seed for the proposed crop; the penetration ofthis hard pan may be accomplished partly by the plow members 7l andpartly and inally by the explosion of the cartridge 82. When thecartridge is exploded it disturbs the soil substantially between thecurved lines X Y; the result is a pocket which operates to conserve therainfall and permit also the easy penetration of the plant roots at thispoint; furthermore as will be seen the area disturbed extends quite adistance belowr the hard pan whose lower level is indicated by the lineB-B. Beneath this hard pan is a subsoil which contains important andvaluable plant food and which under the ordinary methods of tillage isnever rendered available for this purpose; I, by my improved method openit up for the first time in a scientific manner and on an extensivescale and at the same time I economize 1n energy expanded as I limit theoperations to circumscribed areasthe local points or places intended forimmel diate use.

The explosive unit illustrated here by the cartridge 82 can be made upin any desired manner; I show an outer cover 83 containing the highexplosive 84; at 85 I show a detonator with an anvil plate at 86 a capat 87 and cover piece at 88; this is all shown in detail in the crosssection Fig. 3.

I Will proceed to describe the means for introducing or feeding thesecartridges 0r high explosive packages to the cannon 72. At 89 I show twocylinders; these constitute magazines or containers for the cartridgesor high explosive packages. These cylinders or magazines are shown toadvantage in cross section Fig. 6 and longitudinal section Fig. l. Theyare provided with pivots or turning points 90, one at each end, aresupported by and turn in standards 91 rising from the main frame 10 ofthe machine; pins 92 controlled by springs 93 cooperating with detents94 serve to retain the magazine to the position at which it is thrownand this latter is accomplished by the operator seated at 11; the saidoperator, see F `g. 6, can by taking hold of the handles 95 and givingsame a sharp jerk move the cylinder and advance it to another position;each magazine contains six rows of cartridges and when these are allexhausted the cylinder can be taken down and reloaded; but with thedevice and arrangement as shown an extensive lield can be operated uponbefore reloading becomes necessary.

f tie requisites of my herein deperiodic introducinto the cannons asthey move around with the Wheels 58 and to eHect this it will be seenreferring to Fig. 1 that the forward ends of the magazine areco-incident; in line With the mouths o'F the cannon when the latterreach the zenith ot' their swing; this propinquity en abies the easy andimmediate transfer of the cartridge from the magazine to the cannon;part of the machinery therefor is shown in the detached view Fig. 2.

Willen the parts have reached the position shown in Fig. l the cartridge82 which provides a definite explosive charge and is located at theextreme right lower tier of the cylinder 89 is about to be deposited inthe mouth of the cannon 72 now open and immediately below same: thesprings 96 and followers UT are utilized to keep the cartridges movingtoward the outer end of the cylinder when the supply of any one tier isdrawn upon: by this means and in this manner the particular cartridgejust reierred to is positioned to drop through the opening 98 into thcarrested and upwardly turned cannon.

This cartridge is ordinarily held to its position in the cylinder bymeans ot a latch 99 pivoted at l0() to the extension 101 of the shoulder102 forming the upper part of the standard 16?. which latter is securedat its flower end lo the main lraine l0 at 101. bee

Fig.

(.opernting with these 105 .supported on an arm 10G operated by means`herinafter desi'zribed. This yoke is provided witha iralne 10T having anarm 108 which as the Yframe moves upwardly strikes against the latch 99raising same and thus removing the detaining instrument oi the cartridgeS2.

This position is shown in Fig. 1 and the cartridge has commenced to dropinto the cannon bei'ore explained; the above nientioned upward.movementol" the frames is brought about as follows: referring to Fig. 2 as thearm 106 moves backward toward the magazine 8S), the roller 109 moves upon the inclined surface of the extension 101; the said roller beingmounted in the frame 10T draws the arno 10S up with it. W'hen the arm106 is thrown from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown inFig. the spring 110 will thrust the latch 913 down and detain thesucceeding cartridge and the spring;r 111 will return the frame 107 toits normal position.

rThe arm lllb is moved Vfrom one position to the other by means oi' thepin 112 secured at the outer end oi the. short arm 1121 ol' the said armUlli; this pin travels in a groove 111 of the wheel 5S; the said Wheeltraveling forward celu-:es the shoulder 11h ot the -groove 11-1 toinipinge against the pin ll Vvvhich operation will cause the. short arm113 to tip up and the long arm lilo to tip backward, these two armsturning on the pivot 116 attached to the iixed standard 1G?) see Fig. 7.

As the wheels 58 move around carrying the cartridge charged cannon withthem, it is necessary to provide means for preventing the cartridge'roin dropping out before itis desired. To this end I provide covers orcasings 11T, two on each cannon hinged ut 11o and springs 119 forkeeping them in their closed position. when desired. Secured to thepivot 118 a linlr 12H, pivotalliT secured at its other end to the block121 which travels in the irregular groove 122 oi' the circular irame TT.The link 121) held in position b v the erin 1213. the latter beingpivotall y secured to the bloei; 121 at one end and at he other endpivoted at 124e to the stud 125 on the wheel 58. lt will he seen that asthe imple-ment advances the operation of thc inst above described partswill close the cox` ers 11? over the cartridges, right hand side oi'lfig. 1. and prevent the cartridges from leavingl the cannon as thelatter de .si-ends to the lower position shown 'in this ligure; when ithas reached this lovvermost position, it is necessary to open to exposethe cartridge against the soil and the groove '122 serves, in responseto this necessity, to

parts is a yoke draw the covers 117 up and back and eEect this exposure.

lllhile the plow members 71 are usually suiliciently effective inassisting traction I provide supplementary spokes 126 which render thetraction of wheel 58 still more eli'ective.

Pis before stated when the high explosive cartridge functions and thesurrounding soil disturbed it is generally necessary to fill up the holecreated thereby, that is to partially lill it, so as to provide therequisite receptaule Jfor the seed.

To accomplish this to the right degree, l provide a cultivator blade127; this is secured to the yoke arm 128 which extends rearwardly fromthe axle 59 and is journaled around same at 129 and 13() suitablebearings 131 being provided; speciically the cultivator blade 127 ismounted on the shaft l2 journaled at both ends 133 in the yoke- :irin128; wheels 134 also mounted and turning with the shaft 132 are providedto regulate to some extent the penetration of the eultivator blade 127;this blade shovels the soil into the opening caused by the explosion,the depth of which is indicated by the curved dotted line Y, Fig. '1,and as the blade passes and partially ills in, it leaves an opening orreceptacle O of a depth suitable for the reception ol the seed.

in connection with the above I employ seed planters which may be of theordinary construction. At 135 I show bins containing the seed', themeans for conveying the seed rfrom the bin to the collapsible spot 136are well known in the art and need not be speeilically described; andoperating sprocket vlieel 13T driven by the chain 65 and mounted on anysuitable shaft is shown; Suitable means also Well known are provided fordropping the seed periodically in the openings O; coverers orcultivators 13S, one on each side follow the planter and cover up theseed; the cultivators are shown near rear extensions 13S) oi theyoke-arm 128 and are attached to extensions 1110 of trame 10; the .seedwhen so positioned in the soil and by the foregoing instrumentalities isshown at ti in Figs. 1 and 5; I have thus shown and described a completeorganized implement for carrying my invention into eilect.

T he special instrumentalities herein shown may be varied in many waysas the appended claims are founded upon a novel process, the meansemployed to carr i such process into practical effect being capable ofWide dillcrentiation; a basic fact ot my invention is the periodicdeposition of the high explosive, the regularly spaced explosive or gasexpanding charges and I thereby, with its necessarily associatedfeatures, evolve a science' upon which this newly created and veryimportant art may be built.

Another way of introducing the high eX- utilizing a svstematic andplosive in the soil would be by a. strand which could be laid in thesoil in any suita le Way, as in a furrow and then firing saine at anydesired time, months afterward if necessary, always providing that thestrand could be suitably protected from the elements that its desirable.qualities would not be impaired.

Or such strand could in addition to the explosive be furnished withfertilizing matebe liberated in the soil when the explosion took place;or in place of the fertilizer or in conjunction with it if desired Icould associate the seed, such as Wheat which could be liberated to thesoil when the explosion took place.

In this way large areas could be treated and the strands with theircontained elements lie inactive until the desired time, when from acentral station say, the entire iield could be planted in a` moment byreleasing the seed to the soil in the manner just described.

Ianitold other means can be devised for y periodic deposisealed highexplosive packages vfor tillage purposes.

It is manifest that While larly described my invention as applicable toagricultural purposes it can With equal facility tion and drainageprojects such as ditching,

military purposes as where a` held can be treated and mined, such mineslicing subsequently exploded.

aviug thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as newand useful therein and desire to secure by Letters atent:

l. rIhe process ot' soil treatment consisting in progressively insertingdefinite and regularly spaced gas expanding charges beneath the soilsurface during an uninterrupted traversing movement and subsequentlyreleasing the charges successively.

Q. The process of soil treatment consisting in progressively insertingdeiinite and regularly spaced explosive charges beneath the soil surfaceduring an uninterrupted traversing movement and subsequently explodingthe charges successively.

3. The process of soil treatment consisting in progressively insertingdefinite and regularly spaced explosive charges beneath the soil surfaceduring an uninterrupted traversing movement and subsequently during thesame traverse exploding the charges successively.

Y 4. The art of agriculture consisting in progressively insertingdefinite and regularly spaced explosive charges beneath the soil surfaceduring an uninterrupted traversing movement, the charges successivelyand planting seed in the loosened soil during the same traverse.

rl`he process of soil treatment consistspared gas soil duringsubsequently releasing sively.

G. The art of agriculture consisting in progressively loosening the topor surface soil, inserting definite and regularly spaced gas expandingcharges in the sub-soil during an uninterrupted traversing movement,releasing the charges successively, and

.finally planting seed in the loosened soil during the saine traverse.

'i'. The art ot agriculture consisting in pregressively loosening thetop or surface soil, inserting definite am` regularly spaced gasexpanding charges in the sub-soil during an uninterruptciil traversingmovement, releasing the charges successively, depositing the seed in theloosened soil and finally and during the same traverse covering thedeposited seed.

8. An bodying a ried by said vehicle for holding gas expanding charges,for continuously and automatically introducing said charges beneath thesurface of the soil, and automatically operating means for subsequentlyreleasing said charges successively.

9. .in apparatus for treating soil coinprising continually operatingmeans for charges in said orifices and means for autocontinuouslyoperating means for forming regularly spaced orifices in the soil, meansYfor automatically placing explosive charges in said orifices, means forautomatically exploding said charges successively and mechanism forplanting' seed in the loosened soil. l1. An agricultural apparatuscomprising means for loosening the surface soil, continuously larly forautomatically placing explosive charges in said orifices, means forautomatically exploding said charges successively, mechanism for placingseed in the soil loosened by the explosive charges,

deposited seed.

HERBERT KNIGHT.

